Chapter 2 - Wait it out, kid

Heaven.

Beautiful and pure. The great gates tower above the city of gold, opening only to those who live under his name, those who have lived their lives as they were meant to be lived and have repented for their sins. Thousands of cloaked figures go about their daily business, all dressed in white, heads bowed walking in silence. This was the ultimate peace, mortals reward for enduring the trail of life.

The streets were paved in pure gold, magnificent white buildings lining each side, every jewel imaginable on display, encrusted into fountains and pillars. All this of course was nothing compared to the temple of God. It stood tall and proud, there was no such building like it in the whole of the world. It was made entirely out of gold, constructed long ago. The towering halls were breathtaking each one much more beautiful than the last until finally you came to God's thrown. This room was unlike the rest; roughly, it made up half the size of the entire building and was so much more grand and elaborate. Those who looked upon it were captured in awe. The thrown itself was the focal point; it was the purest white marble, smooth and sleek.

The Kingdom of God was not something that could be described in books, the only way of truly knowing its beauty was to see it with your own eyes, and this was something God was most pleased about. Heaven was a secret, wrapped up in shiny paper and tied with a bow. It was truly a gift to any who received it and the best gifts are those that are kept secret until unwrapped.

--

Gabriel's head was bowed low as he prayed silently to the lord. The church was empty except himself, not a sound could be heard. St. Matthew's had always been a quiet church, in truth not a great deal of people even knew of its existence but it was a real gem. The stained glass window's glistened, casting its many colours around the small room. Many a time had Gabriel been here, there was something about this place, something which made him feel at peace, something which soothed him. This feeling of comfort was not with him today instead he was uncomfortably aware of the weight on his shoulders. He had only experienced this a handful of times but he knew exactly what it meant. Gabriel was being watched from above and that meant only one thing. God had his eyes on Gabriel, he knew something…

Quickly the angel finished his prayer, blessing himself before he stood. He heard the soft thud of the door as a small elderly women entered. She smiled warmly as she passed Gabriel, sitting a few rows ahead of where he had just been. The woman closed her eyes and began her prayers. Gabriel could tell she was worried, knew she had a great trouble on her mind. He thought about going to comfort her but he had many things to do. He did not have time for her sorrow.

It was another glorious day in LA; the sun shone brightly, the sky clear. To Gabriel the weather mattered not, he had only one thing on his mind but with the eyes of the lord following his every move this was going to prove to be much more difficult than he had first imagined. Damn Michael for meddling in affairs he didn't understand. The meeting had been going so well up until he had shown up. Gabriel was certain he hadn't overheard anything but an archangel conversing with hellspawn obviously raised a few eyebrows. No doubt he had run straight to his shepherd, kneeling before the lord and exposing his findings. It was an inconvenience, that much was true but it did not ruin the plan completely. Gabriel was going to have to be very careful to pull this one off but he would succeed, it was only a matter of time.

--

"What do you mean, Chas?" John asked.
They were in the back of the cab still parked outside Midnite's. Chas looked like shit, poor kid. Dark circles underlined bleary brown eyes, his face was covered in a light mist of sweat and his unruly curls were tangled and messy.
"I've been having these dreams, dreams I haven't been able to understand. They've been keeping me awake but this one was different. I saw him, John. I saw Lucifer."
John raised an eyebrow. That explained Chas' appearance, his lateness and lack of concentration but what this had to do with them being in 'deep shit' was unknown to him.
"In your dream?" he asked warily, unsure where this was going.
Chas bit his lip; he paused for a moment contemplating what must be said.
"You're going to think I'm crazy… but I don't think they were dreams, John. I think they were visions."
"Visions?" John repeated loudly.
"Of Lucifer?"
Sighing Chas took a deep breath. This was going to be harder than he first expected, he knew John wouldn't believe him but he couldn't exactly ignore it.
"Lucifer and a demon, talking… about you."
"Me?"
Chas gritted his teeth, John was starting to get on his nerves, was there any need to repeat everything he said?
"What about me?" the exorcist continued.
"I… I don't know." Chas hesitated, shaking his head heavily.
"It's blurry, hard to remember but they're planning something, John. I can feel it."

John nodded. It wasn't impossible that Chas might have had a vision or two but mostly they were meaningless to the person who received them. Physic energy surrounds us all the time but it's a jumbled mass of static, only those with certain gifts can make sense of it, unscramble the signal and read the message. Occasionally there will be a surge in energy allowing a regular person to interpret these messages. Think of these like a cell phone message, you write your message hit send and off it goes, flying, through air, invisible to the naked eye but there all the same. On the way to the recipient it is possible for someone with the right equipment to hack into this message and read it themselves. That's exactly what visions are. Someone hacking into someone else's message, hence it not meaning a god damn thing to them but Chas knows John. The chances of him stumbling upon these visions by accident are practically impossible. If what Chas was saying were true, it would mean someone had to be sending him these messages deliberately and that meant as Chas already said, Lucifer was planning something and that was never good.

--

Chas had been tossing and turning all night, although he was far more exhausted than he had ever been in his life, sleep just would not come. He groaned loudly, rubbing his eyes and once more turned over. John had finally agreed something big was going on, something most likely involving John and hell but there was nothing they could do. They needed more information, needed to find out who was sending Chas these messages. John had sent him home, telling him the only option was for them to wait. 'Wait it out, kid', he had said, patting him on the back. Chas would eventually have another dream and when he did he was under strict instructions to write everything down and call John as soon as he had done that. This of course was great for John; he wasn't the one focusing all his efforts on sleeping and getting nothing in return. Frustration didn't even cover how he was feeling right now. Rolling over onto his back he stared blankly up at the ceiling. Why would anyone want to send him visions, why not just give them to John? Who had Lucifer been talking about? Why had he been able to smell rotting flesh? As he pondered the many questions going through his mind he finally began to slip into a deep sleep.

The darkness was blinding, everything was covered in a thick black veil preventing it from being seen. Something stirred in the corner, something that of course couldn't be seen. A man turned quickly perhaps hoping his eyes would somehow be able to see passed all that black. Oh how he hated mind games, unless of course he was the one playing. He straightened his tie continuing down the tiny alley, eager to get this over with as quickly as possible. He scowled in disgust when he heard a crunch under his shoe, why must this be done in such a filthy place. Lucifer was taunting him.
"Balthazar."
The voice cut through the dark telling the man he had reached his destination. It smelt like rotten meet and dog shit. He turned his nose up, straightening his tie a second time.
"What did you find?"
The voice was uncomfortably close to his ear, he could feel hot breath bathing his flesh.
"Nothing, he ascended once, said mass and then cured a child. It was truly sickening. He did as he always does, rest assured Michael knows nothing of your plan."
"You're sure?"
The words were said slowly, forced upon him.
A small nod on his part despite the lack of vision.
"Good, keep an eye on Gabriel I don't want him changing his mind again."
Balthazar was about to answer but was not allowed that luxury as Lucifer was already gone. He let out a little sigh, making his way back down the filthy alley. Fantastic